The members of Current Swell no longer live together under a single roof — as they did years ago,
when the group first came together as a unit — but the bond between the four friends is stronger than
ever.
Touring the world for the better part of five years, from Brazil to Australia, often has that effect.
Current Swell’s years of experience on the road can be heard — and felt — in the nooks and crannies
of Long Time Ago, the new full-length from this rootsy Victoria, B.C. quartet. The record shifts
between upbeat folk (the title track, Long Time Ago) and singalong-ready roots rock (the first single,
Too Cold) with a fluidity and ease that could only come from continual touring.
The band originally wanted to call its fourth record People Not Places, as if to signify its new lyrical
direction. “We used to write about traveling, because that’s all we did for a while,” says singer-
guitarist Scott Stanton. “But on this record, we wrote mostly about people in our lives.”
Friends, acquaintances — even strangers — have been an integral aspect of Current Swell’s personal
and professional development. Decidedly grass-roots, the band has developed a strong online
following over the years, dating back to the independent release and promotion of its previous
recordings, So I Say (2005), Trust Us Now (2007), and Protect Your Own (2009).
Fans have remained steadfast in their support, something the members of Current Swell do not take
for granted. When the band earned first place at Vancouver’s Peak Performance Project (a 2011 radio
contest which awarded the group $100,500 for top prize), the first people on Current Swell’s thank-
you list were their fans.
“The online community has always backed us,” said singer-guitarist Dave Lang, addressing the group’s
considerable presence through iTunes and YouTube. “That is a big reason for our success.”
Steady momentum at the grass-roots level (the group’s video for its campfire-friendly single, Young
and Able, became a word-of-mouth YouTube success in 2010) has now translated to the stage, where
Current Swell shines. Their ability to capture a crowd was honed the old-fashioned way — through
constant practice. Current Swell has always tweaked things as needed, careful not to move in a
direction that feels inauthentic.
The band, which also features drummer Chris Petersen and bassist Ghosty Boy, started its career
with the most modest of expectations, playing shows in settings that ranged from backyards to
beaches. “When we first got together, we just started writing music for fun,” Stanton says. “Then we
got an opportunity to perform, and then we got an opportunity to tour. It wasn’t something we ever
chased too passionately at first. A lot of things just fell into place for us.”
The quartet struck upon a rhythm soon after, the size of its concerts increasing in tandem with its
rapidly progressing talent. Momentum kept Current Swell moving forward in the years that followed,
culminating last summer with a Canada Day concert before 45,000 people at the B.C. Legislature, one
of the largest concerts of its kind ever in Victoria.
That level of accomplishment (when coupled with sets in support of everyone from the Tragically Hip
and Xavier Rudd to K‘Naan, K-OS, The Beach Boys and more) suggests a band long-removed from its
learning-on-the-fly early days. That didn’t happen by accident.
“We’re all much more educated and knowledgeable about our career nowadays,” Stanton says. “We
feel like we know how to do this for a living.”
Despite years of careful planning and intuitive, thoughtful decisions, some things remain beyond
Current Swell’s control. Case in point: Brazil.
Through a mixture of circumstance and happenstance, the members of Current Swell are now the
beneficiaries of a large and loyal following in Brazil, the largest country in South America. The group
has just returned from a tour of the country, a trek which saw Current Swell headline two large
festivals in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, among the largest cities in the world.
“We’d get an e-mail here and there, ‘Please come to Brazil, I’m a huge fan,’ which was hilarious to
read,” Stanton says of the group’s throng of Brazilian fans. “But then we’d go on YouTube and there
was a bunch of people covering our songs. Someone even covered one of our music videos, lip-
syncing all our lyrics.”
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Unescapable Dome
Current Swell Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
or the cold dry air that hurts to breathe on down your throat
the icy roads and the snow molds that get yah col,
Your home has turned, into an unescapable dome
Why's it so hard to leave you got no bills to pay
got no reason to stay, now you're still livin' out
your parents place anyway, doing the same thing
hard to leave, but you don't know, no no no
and you will never find out until you go
you wont know, till you go
your home has turned into an unescapable dome
and you wont know now, no, you wont know until you go.
The lyrics of Current Swell's Unescapable Dome tell a story of feeling trapped in one's own home, surrounded by the winter weather and feeling like there's no reason to leave. The opening lyrics set the scene of the cold winter environment, describing the snowflakes, cold air, icy roads and snow molds that make it difficult to leave. The imagery is vivid, painting a picture of a cozy yet confining atmosphere. The repetition of the phrase "unescapable dome" is used to emphasize the feeling of being trapped.
The second half of the song delves into the reasons why leaving is difficult, despite having no bills and still living with parents. The lyrics suggest that it's easy to fall into a routine where every day feels like the same, without realizing that the comfort of home has actually become a trap. The final lines of the song suggest that the only way to truly know is to leave and explore the world beyond the unescapable dome of home.
Overall, the song is about the struggle between comfort and the desire for adventure. It speaks to the fear of leaving what's familiar behind, even if it's not truly fulfilling, and the yearning to break free and find something new.
Line by Line Meaning
Is it the snowflakes here in the winter time that keep ya home
Are the snowflakes during winter what keep you from leaving your home?
or the cold dry air that hurts to breathe on down your throat
Or is it the painful sensation of inhaling the cold, dry air?
the icy roads and the snow molds that get yah col,
Or is it the frozen roads and the accumulation of snow that make you sick?
Your home has turned, into an unescapable dome
Your home has become a place from which you cannot escape.
Why's it so hard to leave you got no bills to pay
Why is it difficult to leave when you have no bills to pay?
got no reason to stay, now you're still livin' out
You have no justification to remain, yet you continue to live at home.
your parents place anyway, doing the same thing
You live at your parents' house and continue to engage in the same activities.
that you have done everyday and you make it out to be so
You portray it as an enormous undertaking to leave, while you do the same routine day after day.
hard to leave, but you don't know, no no no
You believe it is difficult to leave your home, but you do not realize the cause.
and you will never find out until you go
You will never understand the difficulty of leaving until you attempt to do so.
you wont know, till you go
Only by leaving will you comprehend the extent of the difficulty.
your home has turned into an unescapable dome
Your home has become a place from which you cannot escape.
and you wont know now, no, you wont know until you go.
You will not comprehend the difficulty of leaving until you attempt to do so.
Writer(s): LANG DAVID JAMES, STANTON SCOTT MARSHALL
Contributed by Brayden Y. Suggest a correction in the comments below.